Paradigm Shift in African American Funeral Customs: Looking through the Lens of Oral History and Consumer Culture

The degree attainment of college students is a critical issue that institutions of higher education are considering. Colleges want to improve their retention, progression, and graduation rates for all students. Over the past decades men, based on the literature reviewed, have earned fewer degrees than women. In addition, men are not enrolling in college at the same rates as women. This study uses the NELS Database to analyze the factors that contribute to the degree attainment of men. The research used a logit model to determine the probability for the significant factors

Prokaryotic respiration and production in the meso- and bathypelagic realm of the eastern and western North Atlantic basin

We measured prokaryotic production and respiration in the major water masses of the North Atlantic down to a depth of,4,000 m by following the progression of the two branches of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) in the oceanic conveyor belt. Prokaryotic abundance decreased exponentially with depth from 3 to 0.4 3 105 cells mL21 in the eastern basin and from 3.6 to 0.3 3 105 cells mL21 in the western basin. Prokaryotic production measured via 3H-leucine incorporation showed a similar pattern to that of prokaryotic abundance and decreased with depth from 9.2 to 1.1 mmol C m23 d21 in the eastern and from 20.6 to 1.2 mmol C m23 d21 in the western basin. Prokaryotic respiration, measured via oxygen consumption, ranged from about 300 to 60 mmol C m23 d21 from,100 m depth to the NADW. Prokaryotic growth efficiencies of,2 % in the deep waters (depth range 1,200–4,000 m) indicate that the prokaryotic carbon demand exceeds dissolved organic matter input and surface primary production by 2 orders of magnitude. Cell-specific prokaryotic production was rather constant throughout the water column, ranging from 15 to 32 3 1023 fmol C cell21 d21 in the eastern and from 35 to 58

Jamaican Universities Aiding the Design of an Urban Public Space

Many governments are actively seeking solutions to address the economic crises bedeviling their countries. University/college towns have proven to be successful models of opportunities for attracting investments for economic development while at the same time promoting optimal health outcomes. Harvard, MIT and Newcastle universities provide examples of successful models of universities aiding in spatial design and planning of towns or neighborhoods where they are located to yield sustainable development. The Government of Jamaica has supported the proposal from the University of Technology, Jamaica, (UTech, Jamaica Ja.) to redesign the Papine area in St. Andrew into a university town, given its proximity to the two largest universities in Jamaica, UTech, Ja. and the University of the West Indies (UWI). Both institutions collaborated by using cutting-edge scholarly research and design approaches to propose workable solutions that can promote economic development and healthy lifestyle in an area designated as a university town. The research found that SOPARC was a feasible and reliable instrument for assessing park user variables and associated contextual variables. However, for the proposed design to be executed and maintained, the study recommends establishing a body such as a University District/Town Council with oversight responsibility for planning and land use management of the area

Report of the panel on the land surface: Process of change, section 5

The panel defined three main areas of study that are central to the Solid Earth Science (SES) program: climate interactions with the Earth's surface, tectonism as it affects the Earth's surface and climate, and human activities that modify the Earth's surface. Four foci of research are envisioned: process studies with an emphasis on modern processes in transitional areas; integrated studies with an emphasis on long term continental climate change; climate-tectonic interactions; and studies of human activities that modify the Earth's surface, with an emphasis on soil degradation. The panel concluded that there is a clear requirement for global coverage by high resolution stereoscopic images and a pressing need for global topographic data in support of studies of the land surface

The 100 patient stories project: Patient and family member views on how clinicians (should) enact Open Disclosure - a qualitative study

Objectives To investigate patients’ and family members’ perceptions and experiences of disclosure of healthcare incidents and to derive principles of effective disclosure. Design Retrospective qualitative study based on 100 semi-structured, in depth interviews with patients and family members. Setting Nationwide multisite survey across Australia. Participants 39 patients and 80 family members who were involved in high severity healthcare incidents (leading to death, permanent disability, or long term harm) and incident disclosure. Recruitment was via national newspapers (43%), health services where the incidents occurred (28%), two internet marketing companies (27%), and consumer organisations (2%). Main outcome measures Participants’ recurrent experiences and concerns expressed in interviews. Results Most patients and family members felt that the health service incident disclosure rarely met their needs and expectations. They expected better preparation for incident disclosure, more shared dialogue about what went wrong, more follow-up support, input into when the time was ripe for closure, and more information about subsequent improvement in process. This analysis provided the basis for the formulation of a set of principles of effective incident disclosure. Conclusions Despite growing prominence of open disclosure, discussion about healthcare incidents still falls short of patient and family member expectations. Healthcare organisations and providers should strengthen their efforts to meet patients’ (and family members’) needs and expectations

Patients’ and family members’ views on how clinicians enact and how they should enact incident disclosure: the “100 patient stories” qualitative study

Objectives To investigate patients’ and family members’ perceptions and experiences of disclosure of healthcare incidents and to derive principles of effective disclosure

The conceptual and practical ethical dilemmas of using health discussion board posts as research data.

Increasing numbers of people living with a long-term health condition are putting personal health information online, including on discussion boards. Many discussion boards contain material of potential use to researchers; however, it is unclear how this information can and should be used by researchers. To date there has been no evaluation of the views of those individuals sharing health information online regarding the use of their shared information for research purposes

Cosmopolitan Sentiment: Politics, Charity, and Global Poverty

Duties to address global poverty face a motivation gap. We have good reasons for acting yet we do not, at least consistently. A ‘sentimental education’, featuring literature and journalism detailing the lives of distant others has been suggested as a promising means by which to close this gap (Nussbaum in Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions, CUP, Cambridge, 2001; Rorty in Truth and Progress: Philosophical Papers, vol. 3, CUP, Cambridge, 1998). Although sympathetic to this project, I argue that it is too heavily wed to a charitable model of our duties to address global poverty—understood as requiring we sacrifice a certain portion of our income. However, political action, aimed at altering institutions at both a global and a local level is likely to be necessary in order to provide effective long-term solutions to poverty globally. To rectify this, the article develops an alternative dialogical account of sentimental education, suitable for motivating support for political action to address global poverty

Efficiency and safety of varying the frequency of whole blood donation (INTERVAL): a randomised trial of 45 000 donors

Background: Limits on the frequency of whole blood donation exist primarily to safeguard donor health. However, there is substantial variation across blood services in the maximum frequency of donations allowed. We compared standard practice in the UK with shorter inter-donation intervals used in other countries. Methods: In this parallel group, pragmatic, randomised trial, we recruited whole blood donors aged 18 years or older from 25 centres across England, UK. By use of a computer-based algorithm, men were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to 12-week (standard) versus 10-week versus 8-week inter-donation intervals, and women were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to 16-week (standard) versus 14-week versus 12-week intervals. Participants were not masked to their allocated intervention group. The primary outcome was the number of donations over 2 years. Secondary outcomes related to safety were quality of life, symptoms potentially related to donation, physical activity, cognitive function, haemoglobin and ferritin concentrations, and deferrals because of low haemoglobin. This trial is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN24760606, and is ongoing but no longer recruiting participants. Findings: 45 263 whole blood donors (22 466 men, 22 797 women) were recruited between June 11, 2012, and June 15, 2014. Data were analysed for 45 042 (99·5%) participants. Men were randomly assigned to the 12-week (n=7452) versus 10-week (n=7449) versus 8-week (n=7456) groups; and women to the 16-week (n=7550) versus 14-week (n=7567) versus 12-week (n=7568) groups. In men, compared with the 12-week group, the mean amount of blood collected per donor over 2 years increased by 1·69 units (95% CI 1·59–1·80; approximately 795 mL) in the 8-week group and by 0·79 units (0·69–0·88; approximately 370 mL) in the 10-week group (p<0·0001 for both). In women, compared with the 16-week group, it increased by 0·84 units (95% CI 0·76–0·91; approximately 395 mL) in the 12-week group and by 0·46 units (0·39–0·53; approximately 215 mL) in the 14-week group (p<0·0001 for both). No significant differences were observed in quality of life, physical activity, or cognitive function across randomised groups. However, more frequent donation resulted in more donation-related symptoms (eg, tiredness, breathlessness, feeling faint, dizziness, and restless legs, especially among men [for all listed symptoms]), lower mean haemoglobin and ferritin concentrations, and more deferrals for low haemoglobin (p<0·0001 for each) than those observed in the standard frequency groups. Interpretation: Over 2 years, more frequent donation than is standard practice in the UK collected substantially more blood without having a major effect on donors' quality of life, physical activity, or cognitive function, but resulted in more donation-related symptoms, deferrals, and iron deficiency. Funding: NHS Blood and Transplant, National Institute for Health Research, UK Medical Research Council, and British Heart Foundation